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<div class="section">
<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both">
<a name="fusion.preface"></a><a class="link" href="preface.html" title="Preface">Preface</a>
</h2></div></div></div>
<div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"><p>
        <span class="emphasis"><em><span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Algorithms + Data Structures = Programs.</span>”</span></em></span>
      </p></blockquote></div>
<div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"><p>
        <span class="bold"><strong>--Niklaus Wirth</strong></span>
      </p></blockquote></div>
<h4>
<a name="fusion.preface.h0"></a>
      <span class="phrase"><a name="fusion.preface.description"></a></span><a class="link" href="preface.html#fusion.preface.description">Description</a>
    </h4>
<p>
      Fusion is a library for working with heterogeneous collections of data, commonly
      referred to as tuples. A set of containers (vector, list, set and map) is provided,
      along with views that provide a transformed presentation of their underlying
      data. Collectively the containers and views are referred to as sequences, and
      Fusion has a suite of algorithms that operate upon the various sequence types,
      using an iterator concept that binds everything together.
    </p>
<p>
      The architecture is modeled after <a href="http://www.boost.org/libs/mpl" target="_top">MPL</a>
      which in turn is modeled after <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Template_Library" target="_top">STL</a>.
      It is named "fusion" because the library is a "fusion"
      of compile time metaprogramming with runtime programming.
    </p>
<h4>
<a name="fusion.preface.h1"></a>
      <span class="phrase"><a name="fusion.preface.motivation"></a></span><a class="link" href="preface.html#fusion.preface.motivation">Motivation</a>
    </h4>
<p>
      Tuples are powerful beasts. After having developed two significant projects
      (<a href="http://boost-spirit.com/home/" target="_top">Spirit</a> and <a href="http://www.boost.org/libs/phoenix" target="_top">Phoenix</a>)
      that relied heavily metaprogramming, it became apparent that tuples are a powerful
      means to simplify otherwise tricky tasks; especially those that require a combination
      of metaprogramming and manipulation of heterogeneous data types with values.
      While <a href="http://www.boost.org/libs/mpl" target="_top">MPL</a> is an extremely
      powerful metaprogramming tool, <a href="http://www.boost.org/libs/mpl" target="_top">MPL</a>
      focuses on type manipulation only. Ultimately, you'll have to map these types
      to real values to make them useful in the runtime world where all the real
      action takes place.
    </p>
<p>
      As <a href="http://boost-spirit.com/home/" target="_top">Spirit</a> and <a href="http://www.boost.org/libs/phoenix" target="_top">Phoenix</a>
      evolved, patterns and idioms related to tuple manipulation emerged. Soon, it
      became clear that those patterns and idioms were best assembled in a tuples
      algorithms library. <a href="http://www.boost.org/people/dave_abrahams.htm" target="_top">David
      Abrahams</a> outlined such a scheme in 2002. At that time, it just so happened
      that <a href="http://boost-spirit.com/home/" target="_top">Spirit</a> and <a href="http://www.boost.org/libs/phoenix" target="_top">Phoenix</a>
      had an adhoc collection of tuple manipulation and traversal routines. It was
      an instant <span class="emphasis"><em>AHA!</em></span> moment.
    </p>
<h4>
<a name="fusion.preface.h2"></a>
      <span class="phrase"><a name="fusion.preface.how_to_use_this_manual"></a></span><a class="link" href="preface.html#fusion.preface.how_to_use_this_manual">How
      to use this manual</a>
    </h4>
<p>
      Some icons are used to mark certain topics indicative of their relevance. These
      icons precede some text to indicate:
    </p>
<div class="note"><table border="0" summary="Note">
<tr>
<td rowspan="2" align="center" valign="top" width="25"><img alt="[Note]" src="../../../../../doc/src/images/note.png"></td>
<th align="left">Note</th>
</tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
        Information provided is auxiliary but will give the reader a deeper insight
        into a specific topic. May be skipped.
      </p></td></tr>
</table></div>
<div class="important"><table border="0" summary="Important">
<tr>
<td rowspan="2" align="center" valign="top" width="25"><img alt="[Important]" src="../../../../../doc/src/images/important.png"></td>
<th align="left">Important</th>
</tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
        Information provided is of utmost importance.
      </p></td></tr>
</table></div>
<div class="caution"><table border="0" summary="Caution">
<tr>
<td rowspan="2" align="center" valign="top" width="25"><img alt="[Caution]" src="../../../../../doc/src/images/caution.png"></td>
<th align="left">Caution</th>
</tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
        A mild warning.
      </p></td></tr>
</table></div>
<div class="tip"><table border="0" summary="Tip">
<tr>
<td rowspan="2" align="center" valign="top" width="25"><img alt="[Tip]" src="../../../../../doc/src/images/tip.png"></td>
<th align="left">Tip</th>
</tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
        A potentially useful and helpful piece of information.
      </p></td></tr>
</table></div>
<p>
      This documentation is automatically generated by Boost QuickBook documentation
      tool. QuickBook can be found in the <a href="http://www.boost.org/tools/index.html" target="_top">Boost
      Tools</a>.
    </p>
<h4>
<a name="fusion.preface.h3"></a>
      <span class="phrase"><a name="fusion.preface.support"></a></span><a class="link" href="preface.html#fusion.preface.support">Support</a>
    </h4>
<p>
      Please direct all questions to Spirit's mailing list. You can subscribe to
      the <a href="https://sourceforge.net/projects/spirit/lists/spirit-general" target="_top">Spirit
      Mailing List</a>. The mailing list has a searchable archive. Here is a
      link to the archives: <a href="https://sourceforge.net/p/spirit/mailman/spirit-general/" target="_top">archive</a>.
    </p>
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<td align="right"><div class="copyright-footer">Copyright © 2001-2006, 2011, 2012 Joel de Guzman,
      Dan Marsden, Tobias Schwinger<p>
        Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying
        file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at <a href="http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt" target="_top">http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt</a>)
      </p>
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